ntwfrpsfandomcom-20200214-history
Ezra Alaric
Ezra Alaric is a character from the Medieval game universe, although he did not appear in the game itself. He is a prince of Courdon, son of King Rafael and younger brother of King Oliver. He is best known in the court for being a persistent thorn in Oliver's side, until his disappearance and presumed death in early 1343. Forced into hiding after Oliver secretly ordered him assassinated, Ezra would not resurface until after Oliver's death in 1347. Backstory Later Appearances * Playing With Fire - Takes place after King Rafael is assassinated, and deals with Ezra's childhood and his relationship with his brother Oliver. * In the King's Shadow - Covers a roughly fifteen year timespan, from the time of Ezra's mother's death, through the revolution and after. Ezra takes on the position of Minister of War, and does his best to keep his family functional despite Oliver's abuses and the stress of a losing fight against the rebels. However things fall apart a little bit at a time, and ultimately Ezra's compassion proves his undoing... until he meets a peasant woman named Dominique. * Time and Tides - After the end of the war, Ezra reunites with his niece Saphira, and the two of them reflect on their harsh pasts and the lives they hope to lead moving forward. * Rebuilding Bridges - After a harsh estrangement lasting nearly ten years, Ezra meets with his nephew Gerard and hashes out his grievences with the runaway prince. * Remorse - Ezra takes three of his children to Rakine to visit their uncle and cousins while he attends to some buisness with the visiting sultan of Mzia. While he's there, he talks to Elias about something from their past that has been bothering his younger brother- Elias sired two daughters by a slave. * A Life Anew - Direct follow-up to Remorse that follows Elias as he finds his missing daughters and formally adopts them. Ezra cameos in part five, being introduced to his nieces when Elias brings them to visit Ezra's family at their seaside manor. Personality The first thing most people in the Alaric family would say if asked to describe Ezra would be "he's a lot like his father." Ezra is by most ideal Coudonian metrics and insufferably soft man, who's favorite pastimes are cuddling little children and being that embarrassing relative who shares all your most horrifying childhood stories. However these exact traits are what made him easily the most well-liked member of the Alaric family after Rafe's death save his mother Rhiannon. He often takes it upon himself to be a rock of support for his younger relatives, letting them lean on him emotionally and showering them with unconditional love. However, his boundless generosity of spirit is often in far higher demand than Ezra has supply in a family ruled by and abusive tyrant with no checks on his power. This leads to Ezra developing a massive martyr complex, giving everything on himself and asking- and receiving- nothing in return. This is only to his own detriment, as it leaves Ezra with little emotional stability of his own. Relationships Oliver Alaric Ezra's relationship with his eldest brother is the one that defined the majority of his early life, much though he would wish otherwise. When he was very young Ezra had the distinction of being the only one of Oliver's youngest siblings who refused to be cowed into silence about his eldest brother's abuses, ratting on Oliver to Rafe and Rhiannon. Though Rafe didn't quite believe Ezra- Oliver claimed the bruises were accidental and they'd been roughhousing- Oliver still decided to leave Ezra alone, as he was more trouble than he was worth. Things held at this stalemate until Rafe's death when Ezra was thirteen, at which point all restraint evaporated and Oliver set about trying to beat his brother into submission. At first Ezra delighted in refusing to submit, but eventually Oliver hit upon a solution that worked- using the smaller Alarics as collateral against Ezra's good behavior. From there, Ezra forced himself to more or less become Oliver's minion, kowtowing to his brother's petty whims, though not without doing everything he could within his limited power to undermine his brother. Ezra remained everything Oliver was not, kind, soft, comforting, and safe, ''a haven for his younger relatives, much to Oliver's disdain. Though on the surface the two cooperated, beneath that there remained a simmering hatred, with Oliver viewing Ezra as too independant but refusing to "lose" to him by giving up on breaking him- and Ezra refusing flat out to fully break. By his own admission Ezra views Oliver as something of a demi-god, a cruel but omnipotent force squatting on the throne and lording over the Alaric family unchecked. After Oliver's death, it takes a while for Ezra to fully process that the monster who ruled his life for so long is gone- but he feels no true grief over it, only confusion and bitterness. Elias Alaric On the polar opposite side of the spectrum, Ezra's youngest brother Elias is his best friend and eternal confidant. Ezra took up protecting Elias and Elias' twin Anna from Oliver when they were all children, and once they were both of-age Ezra and Elias joined the military together in a brief escape from the king's tyranny over their family. The two became extremely close during this time, heavily emotionally dependant on one another, and once they moved back to the palace after their mother's death it seemed only natural that they would live together until Ezra's effective banishment in 1343. The two brothers love one another more than anything, would sacrifice everything for each other, and respect each other's opinions. It seemed only natural to Ezra to name his firstborn son Eli, after his baby brother and best friend. Dominique Lafontaine When Oliver ordered Ezra assasinated in 1343 and Elias helped him to go into hiding, Ezra fell in with the Lafontaine family, headed by the widowed Dominique. Though at first she took him in because she was desperate- she needed money to help provide for her children and a boarder was a good way to get it- the two of them gradually developed a genuine friendship. Ezra didn't just sleep in her house and eat her food, he helped her to care for the house, played with and looked after her children, and often went out of his way to help the family with everything from small favors to taking physical blows for their sake. Dominique began to grow very fond of him, and also to recognize several things about Ezra that nobody else really had, at least not explicitly; in particular, his tendency towards holding himself to impossible standards and his yawning desire for his affections to be appreciated and reciprocated. Ultimately, in recognizing these needs and giving them to Ezra, Dominique filled a hole that Ezra hadn't even known was in his heart. He fell in love with her, and she with him, and the two of them decided to marry. ''More later, he has a lot. >_> Trivia * Ezra is very briefly mentioned by Joram in the fic The Merchant of Ruom long before his first official appearance. * Gerard is the only member of the Alaric family who has more scars from Oliver's abuse than Ezra. *During the war, though it was never explicitly named as such due to lack of recognition in the time period, Ezra suffered from severe depressive disorder, expressing such symptoms as fatigue, social isolation, irritability, guilt, self-hate, chronic headaches, and towards the end of his time as Minister of War, suicidal thoughts. This turned around dramatically after he met the Lafontaines. Category:Courdonians Category:Medieval characters Category:Non-game characters